Over the course of the briskly-paced, hour-long WKYT debate, Barr, a Republican congressman, repeatedly cast Booker, a Democratic former state representative, as favoring a "radical" agenda out of step with most Americans. Booker frequently returned to charges of corruption and "selling out" Kentuckians.
"Look, if he talks like a socialist, if he embraces views of socialists, if he taxes and spends like a socialist, and he wants to pay people to not work like a socialist, he's a socialist," Barr said, in one of a number of statements tying Booker to political figures such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
"Why is Andy Barr a rubber stamp for all of this chaos in Washington? Why won't he step up to protect Kentucky families? Well, he's bought and sold, and he has signed on to the Trump-McConnell playbook every step of the way," Booker fired back amid one of many pointed responses.
On issues ranging from Social Security to artificial intelligence to the war in Iran, the contenders diverged sharply, peppering their answers with personal attacks focused largely on money and who stands to gain from holding the seat being vacated by Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Regarding health care, Barr and Booker offered different prescriptions for Kentucky families.
"My opponent's plan, Medicare for All, would force them into a government-run monopoly, and they couldn't fire the only choice they had, and that would be Washington, D.C.," Barr said. "The answer is not more government, more bureaucratic control. The answer is restoring the doctor-patient relationship, competition, choice, and innovation in health care."
"We need to make sure the public can actually compete with private insurance. Andy Barr would never do that because he's sold out to private insurance. I believe the public deserves every option that get the care they need to keep the coverage you want and so that you can have that high-quality health care that Mitch McConnell has too," the Democrat said.
Pollsters and election trackers such as the Cook Political Report show the Senate race leaning strongly in the Republicans' favor with just two weeks remaining before Election Day.